The toy industry may just be about to change, thanks to the increasing use of 3D printing within the space. We have begun to see several companies take a keen interest in the technology, due to its ability to create custom toys on a one-to-one basis, while also reducing the need for large supply chains.

Lanzer, is a relatively new company that has recently become one of the more popular destinations for individuals who are looking for customizable, unique 3D printed toys. It’s also a place for large companies who own the Intellectual Property for popular name brands to go in order to offer up their own products.

Today, Launzer informs 3DPrint.com that they have reached an agreement with two new companies, and we aren’t just talking about small “under the radar” type companies.

“Launzer is the #1 service to launch virtual content as branded 3D printed merchandise,” Heikki Karvonen of Launzer tells 3DPrint.com. “And today we have announced two new icebreaking deals.

Launzer has announced that they will be partnering with Warner Brothers Consumer Products and ITV Studios Global Entertainment, to bring Warner brothers and ITV Studios characters to their 3D printing marketplace. This means that everything from Batman to the Looney Toons to the Thunderbirds will soon be available as 3D printed figurines. The Warner Brothers character library is quite large so it should be very interesting to see exactly which characters become available first.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment plans to bring their 1960’s Thunderbirds TV series characters to the marketplace, just in time for their 50th anniversary next year. Launching on Launzer.com will be limited edition 3D printed collectible figurines from the company.

“The deals with Warner Brothers and ITV are remarkable milestones for Launzer.com”, explained Kari Voutila, CEO & Founder of 3D Online Factory – Finnish start-up behind Launzer.com. “In less than 12 months we have been able to have on board world class players like these two. Even more important is that during 2015 we can offer to fans of Batman, Superman, Thunderbirds etc. unique and original content in Launzer. With more news to publish in January and Launzer’s mobile functionalities in development we are really looking forward for 2015.”

The deal with Warner Brothers was actually reached with the company’s licensing partner, Nordic Licensing, and should certainly show the world the potential that 3D printing provides. Warner Brothers is such a well know, well respected company, Launzer seems to really have hit gold with this deal.

““Nordic Licensing Company is excited about having ventured into this new area of merchandising together with Launzer.com as we see it as an inevitable that 3D printing at some point will touch upon world famous brand and IPs,” explained Category Manager, Anders Krygell from Nordic Licensing Company. “This is why we are embracing the opportunity to work together with Launzer.com to make officially branded 3D printed merchandise available to consumers. We believe that we will see a lot more to 3D printing in the future so we chose to be a part of the development rather than being on the sideline.”

As for when we can expect to see these characters launched on Launzer, we are told that this will initially take place in the spring of 2015, when Batman and other Warner Brothers figurines will be made available. This will coincided with the launch of the Classic Thunderbirds collection starting in April of 2015.

I’m very excited about what this means for the future of the toy industry. As a mother of a young boy myself, I’m looking forward to the day when I can go on the internet and customize virtually any character from my son’s favorite TV shows with the touch of a button, and then have them shipped directly to my front door. We will certainly be keeping any eye on this.

What do you think? Which Warner Brothers’ characters do you want to see made available on Launzer.com first? Discuss in the Launzer / Warner Brothers forum thread on 3DPB.com.

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